Born On: July 1st, 1961

Born In: Karnal in Haryana

Died On: February 1st, 2003
Career: Astronaut, Aeronautic Engineer
Kalpana Chawla was India's first women aeronautical engineer to travel into space. She has been
a role model to several women in terms of achievement and contributions to the field of
aeronautics. Growing up in a male dominant society, Kalpana never let her dreams of flying be
affected in any way. In fact she was the first woman to study aeronautical engineering in her
batch. Some of her memorials are: the Kalpana Chawla Award given by the Karnataka
Government, a dormitory named after her in the University of Texas at Arlington from where she
did her Masters and a planetarium in Haryana. This sheds light on her meritorious and
outstanding achievements. Even though her death was sudden and unfortunate, she left a mark in
the nation and will be remembered forever. Read the following sections to know more about this
dynamic personality, her career and life.
Early Life
Kalpana Chawla was born on the 1st of July, 1961 in a small town in Karnal located in the state
of Haryana. Her parents, Banarasi Lal Chawla and Sanjyothi had two other daughters named
Sunita and Deepa and a son named Sanjay. Kalpana was the youngest in her family and hence,
she was the most pampered too.
She got educated at the Tagore Public School and later enrolled into Punjab Engineering College
to complete her Aeronautical Engineering Degree in 1982. In the same year, she moved to the
US. She got married to Jean-Pierre Harrison in 1983. He was her flying instructor and an
aviation author.
In 1984, she completed her M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas in
Arlington. In 1988, she obtained a Ph.D. in the same subject from the University of Colorado at
Boulder.
Career
Kalpana Chawla was a certified flight instructor who rated aircrafts and gilders. She also held a
commercial pilot license for single and multi-engine airplanes, hydroplanes and gliders. Kalpana
was a licensed Technician class Amateur Radio person certified by the Federal Communication
commission. Owing to her multiple degrees in Aerospace, she got a job in NASA as the Vice
President of the Overset Methods, Inc. in 1993. She was extensively involved in computational
fluid dynamics research on Vertical/Short Takeoff and Landing. It was not until 1995 that she
became a part of the NASA 'Astronaut Corps'.
Three years later, she was selected for her first mission i.e. to travel around the Earth in a space
shuttle. This operation consisted of six other members. Kalpana was responsible for organizing
the Spartan Satellite but she was unsuccessful in her role due to its malfunction. It was found that
due to technical errors, the satellite defied control of ground staff and flight crew members.
Following this, she was vindicated.

On the other hand, Kalpana Chawla created history for being the first Indian woman to travel in a
space shuttle. She had the privilege of journeying as far as 10.4million km. This approximately
adds up to 252 times around the Earth's orbit that comprised of 372 hours in space.
After the Spartan Satellite incident, she was given a technical position. Her excellent work was
recognized and awarded. In 2000, she was again assigned on her second flight mission as a part
of Flight STS-107. Kalpana's responsibility included microgravity experiments. Along with her
team members, she undertook a detailed research on advanced technology development,
astronaut health & safety, the study of Earth and space science. During the course of this
mission, there were several mishaps and cracks were detected in the shuttle engine flow liners.
This delayed the project until 2003.
Death
It was on February 1st 2003 that the space shuttle, STS-107, collapsed over the Texas region
when it re-entered the Earth's atmosphere. This unfortunate event ended the lives of seven crew
members including Kalpana.
Achievements and Accolades
Despite living in America, Kalpana Chawla was considered the pride of India. She was the first
Indian woman to travel in a space shuttle for 372 hours and complete 252 rotations around the
Earth's atmosphere. Her achievements have been an inspiration to many others in India and
abroad. There are many science institutions named after her.
During her lifetime, Kalpana Chawla was awarded with three awards namely the Congressional
Space Medal of Honor, NASA Space Flight Medal and the NASA Distinguished Service Medal.
Timeline
1961: She was born on 1st July in Karnal.
1982: She moved to the United States to complete her education.
1983: Married a flying instructor and aviation author, Jean-Pierre Harrison.
1984: got an M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas in Arlington.
1988: She received a Ph.D. in the same field and began to work for NASA.
1993: Joined Overset Methods Inc. as Vice President and Research Scientist.
1995: She joined the NASA 'Astronaut Corps.
1996: Kalpana was the mission specialist for prime robotic arm operator on STS-87.
1997: Her first mission on Flight STS-87 took place.
2000: Assigned on her second mission as part of Flight STS-107.
2003: Chawla got a second chance for the mission on Flight STS-107. On February 1st, she died
when the space shuttle broke down.
Read more at http://www.iloveindia.com/indian-heroes/kalpanachawla.html#j0fPS4g3lpejA2GF.99

Our tribute to a great Indian lady, Dr. Kalpana Chawla.

Kalpana Chawla's story is an absolutely inspiring one! Its the story of an ordinary girl who dreamt big and
reached for the starsliterally. As most people know, Kalpana Chawla was an astronaut and space
shuttle mission specialist for STS-107 (Columbia). She was killed in a spacecraft accident when at the
end of its mission, Columbia disintegrated after reentry into the Earth's atmosphere.
Born in Karnal, Haryana, India on July 1, 1961 to Banarasi Lal Chawla and Sanjyothi, Kalpana was the
youngest of four siblings, after 2 sisters, Sunita and Dipa, and a brother, Sanjay. She completed her
earlier schooling at Tagore Public School in Karnal. Chawla's mother has mentioned in an interview that
her daughter was "different." "She used to cut her own hair, never wore ironed clothes, learned karate."
One of her teachers remembered a project she had done on the environment, making "huge, colorful
charts and models depicting the sky and stars." From her earliest childhood, she and her brother shared
an interest in flying. Her interest in flight was inspired by J. R. D. Tata, India's first pilot. To pursue her
dream of flying airplanes and becoming an Aerospace Engineer, she earned her Bachelor of Engineering
degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Punjab Engineering College at Chandigarh in 1982. She was at
the top of her class and had been offered a job in her own college. But when she learned that she was
accepted at the University of Texas for a Master's in Aeronautical Engineering, she moved to the United
States in 1982. There she obtained M.S. in Aerospace Engineering in the year 1984. In 1988, she
received her Doctorate from University of Colorado. The same year she married Jean Pierre Harrison
whom she had met on the day she landed in America for the first time. Harrison was a freelance flying
instructor, and introduced Chawla to scuba diving, hiking, and long flying expeditions. She kept her
brother informed of her budding relationship, and it was he who helped persuade their parents to let his
sister marry Harrison.
With her Ph.D. in hand, Chawla began working at the NASA Ames Research Center in the San Francisco
Bay area. The simulation of complex air flows encountered around spacecraft was the focus of her
research. Later on, Chawla took a position with Overset Methods, Inc. in Silicon Valley. She served as the
Vice President and as a research scientist. Her work and its results were presented at conferences and
published in various professional journals.
Chawla was chosen for the astronaut program in December 1994 and was selected for her first flight in
1996. She spoke the following words while traveling in the weightlessness of space, "You are just your
intelligence". She had traveled 10.4 million km, as many as 252 times around the Earth. Her first space
mission began on November 19, 1997 as part of the six-astronaut crew that flew the Space Shuttle
Columbia flight STS-87. Chawla was the first Indian-born woman and the second Indian person to fly in
space, following cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma who flew in 1984 in a spacecraft. During STS-87, she was
responsible for deploying the Spartan Satellite which malfunctioned, necessitating a spacewalk by
Winston Scott and Takao Doi to capture the satellite. A five-month NASA investigation fully exonerated

Chawla by identifying errors in software interfaces and the defined procedures of flight crew and ground
control.
In 2000, she was selected for her second flight as part of the crew of STS-107. This mission was
repeatedly delayed due to scheduling conflicts and technical problems. On January 16, 2003, Chawla
finally returned to space aboard Columbia on the ill-fated STS-107 mission. Chawla's responsibilities
included the microgravity experiments, for which the crew conducted nearly 80 experiments studying
earth and space science advanced technology development, and astronaut health and safety. On
February 1, 2003, after completing their assigned duties, the crew of mission STS-107 was all set to
return to Earth. Everything looked alright until US space shuttle Columbia gained entry into the Earths
atmosphere. During its final descent, just 16 minutes prior to landing, the space shuttle exploded into
pieces. The entire crew perished along with Kalpana Chawla. Since then, the tragic and untimely death of
this extraordinary woman has remained in the memories of many.
Many awards and memorials have been instituted in the honor of Kalpana Chawla. The Outstanding
Recent Alumni Award at the University of Colorado, given since 1983, was renamed for Kalpana Chawla.
At least 30,000 schoolchildren and citizens joined hands to make a 36.4 km-long human chain to support
the demand for a Kalpana Chawla medical college in the city of Karnal to demonstrate that they continue
to revere Kalpana Chawla as an outstanding astronaut. Haryana Government accepted this long pending
demand of the people of Karnal and the establishment of Kalpana Chawla Medical College is in progress.
The Government of Haryana has also made a Planetarium after her name called Kalpana Chawla
Planetarium in Jyotisar, Kurukshetra. Shortly after her last mission, India renamed its first weather satellite
'Kalpana-1' in her honor. Steve Morse from the band Deep Purple created a song called "Contact Lost" in
memory of the Columbia tragedy. The song can be found in the album Bananas.
Kalpana Chawla lived as a role-model for many young women, particularly those in her hometown of
Karnal where she periodically returned to encourage young girls to follow in her footsteps. And in the end,
she died a hero. Her brother, Sanjay Chawla remarked, "To me, my sister is not dead. She is immortal.
Isn't that what a star is? She is a permanent star in the sky. She will always be up there where she
belongs.

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